Monday, July 9, 2012

Sweet Treat: iRewardChart

Here's another cool thing for those of you with children:  A new app my mom showed me.  I have an iPhone, she was using her Kindle so I guess that means Droid has it.  Anyway it's the iRewardChart app.  It's like a virtual chore chart and lets you or the kids keep track of what they've done by earning stars or taking them away.  You can set goals and prizes.  Use it for allowances and it's a good way to keep them motivated for doing what they are told and for good behavior.  I think things like this are very helpful.  One day I'll do a post on the chore chart I made on a huge poster board for my son last year.  Was very helpful.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

I love these little postcards.  And this one...the best.  Haha some people hate to receive feedback.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Let's Eat: Chicken Piccata

I have a recipe that is super-quick and super-easy to make and will make you feel like an Italian chef and will impress everyone!  Chicken Piccata is unbelievably easy to make.  Bear with me, I've stated before that I'm not good with measuring unless it's baking.  I just use my tastebuds to know when enough is enough or not enough.  Gotta taste good, right?  So here's what you need:  boneless/skinless chicken breasts, flour, seasonings of your choice, angel hair pasta, chicken broth, capers, garlic, 2 lemons, parsley, olive oil, and butter.

You have to beat your chicken with a meat tenderizer mallet to flatten it out.  Remember to disinfect your counter of all the chicken juice afterward.  Ugh, can't stand a nasty-ass cook. Then season it how you want and coat it with flour.
Now during this time you will have had your chicken broth, olive oil, butter, and lemon juice heating up in a big pan with capers and garlic.  Squeeze some lemon juice (to taste) in the pan and cut a few thin lemon slices in there (makes it look like you really know how to throw down).  Keep playing with the mixture of these ingredients until you get it to your liking.  Always go by taste and not measurements.  After all, it's more important that it tastes good, than how much of whatever you use.  I guess.  I mean, I'm no chef.  I just like to cook.  

Put your chicken in the pan to cook and make sure it's done! You can be boiling your angel hair pasta while all this is going on so when your chicken is done you can just set it on top of your pasta and pour the sauce over the noodles.  Yay!  You can put some parsley and Parmesan on top if you wish. 

You should totally make this for a date and make a dessert to serve afterward.  Dim the lights, burn some candles, all that! Lol :) 

Enjoy!  Next time I make this I will try to pay attention to what I do so that I can have some rough measurements.



Monday, July 2, 2012

Monday's Sweet Treat: imPRESS nails v. Nailene nails

A lovely young lady that I am Instagram friends with started posting pics of her press-on nails.  Looked good so I went out to find some.  Lucked up and got 2 boxes 50% off at CVS.  Put them on in about ten minutes. They were about $7 or $7.99 full price.  For the price, cool.  As for durability, I got about 2 days before random nails popped off.  However, I was cleaning my couches, cleaning the house, working in the yard, and working on the geriatric unit of the hospital which means a lot of lifting and cleaning.  If I was chillin on vacation or sitting somewhere looking cute, I'm sure they would have lasted longer.
Comparing them to Sally Hansen Nail Effects....well, they are about a dollar cheaper and give a shape like acrylics so that's fine if you want your nails to look "done" not just painted.  But they definitely aren't as durable as the Nail Effects.  I've left the Sally Hansen product on for 7 days or more.  That said, the imPRESS nails come with a lot of extra press-ons in the box so when one pops off you can just put another one back on.  Unlike Nail Effects strips which dry out and become unusable if you don't use them when they are opened.  If they could find a way to individually seal them, I'd be buying them all the time.  Anyhoo, imPRESS seems cool for a quick, one-time event.

Now, I'll talk about Nailene.  For these you need nail glue...which is nothing more than super glue.  I got this pack at Family Dollar for $3.  The nail shapes fit my nails better than the imPRESS nails did and they have lasted longer because you glue them to your nails  So far, I've gotten compliments on them and I think they look pretty good.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

31 Day Reset

Today I am starting a life reset program sent to me by a friend of mine.  The information for the 31 Day Reset can be found on www.happyblackwoman.com.  I will be doing it with my best friend, and we will be each other's accountability partners.  I absolutely love exercises that bring heightened self-awareness so I am very excited and glad that I will be doing it with someone who doesn't mind giving feedback to me!  The first day asks you to choose your personal mantra.  I really can't decide because there are several quotes that I repeat to myself often.  So, I'm going to stick with a good old-fashioned affirmation of things that I want to continue in my life: "I am learning.  I am living.  I am happy, healthy, blessed, and free."  Kind of long, but I think all those things are so important.  Also on the first day, you must choose a theme song for the month.  I found a link to some cool songs for motivation here: http://under30ceo.com/47-inspirational-songs-for-young-entrepreneurs/ Again, I can't decide.  I think I'm going with "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers.  When he sings "when I look at you," I think of looking at my son. :)  Well that's all for now.  Hopefully this will inspire me to keep my blog updated better than I have :(